Planked King Crab Legs and Grilled Lobster Tails

When it comes to grilling seafood, lobster tails are probably fairly high on your list.  Crab legs, however, may be more towards the bottom.  I mean who grills crab legs?  Well…me, and you should too!

Zoë’s Mum is over from England visiting.  She is a huge fan of shellfish. Zoë is not.  Needless to say, I seized the moment.  Shellfish for dinner!

Grilled Lobster Tails

Lobster is decadent, it is expensive, and whenever I order it out, which is rare anymore, I’m disappointed.  How do I guarantee a great lobster dinner?  Easy.  I make it myself.

Zoë has this “thing” about me killing dinner in the house.  For that matter, the backyard is off limits too.  With these caveats in play, I always opt for the lobster tail.  Less mess, no fuss, and I can mostly guarantee to coming home and finding my key still works in the backdoor.

There are several different ways to prep a lobster tail for the grill: the soft tissue underneath the “tail” shell can be removed or the tail can be cut completely in half.

There is also a third way, which is a variation of the two.

Cut the shell with a pair of kitchen shears, but go no further than the tail.

With a knife, split the meat along the same path as the shell cut line, being careful not to slice all the way through the lobster.

Open the lobster like a book.  

The remaining soft membrane will keep the sections intact while exposing the meat.

Lobster is grilled over direct medium heat.  Rub the flesh with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill flesh side down for approximately 5-7 minutes, then flip.  

Finish cooking flesh side up, still over direct heat.

At this point, it’s a great idea to baste the lobster with a herb butter mixture.

The lobster is done when its internal temperature, checked by an instant read thermometer, reaches 135 F.

Planked King Crab Legs

Grilling crab legs is kind of a cheat, as king crab legs are already cooked prior being frozen and shipped south.  When preparing, all we are really doing is re-heating.  So yes, they could be boiled, baked, or even microwaved, but if it means they can be grilled, you know the route I’m going to take.

Thaw the crab legs in the refrigerator overnight.  

At least an hour before grilling, soak a large grilling plank in water.  One of several reasons I love the planks at Outdoor Gourmet is because they are huge.  Their XL size is 15" & 7” and provides a ton of space.

Secure the crab legs together (Thanks to my friends at PopsQTool for the great cedar wrap idea!) and place over a direct medium heat fire.

The legs need about 15 minutes to “grill.”  

So there you have it, a seafood extravaganza.  This was perhaps some of the best lobster I’ve had in awhile and yet another reason why I never order lobster and crab out.  For the price of one meal at a restaurant, I served three at home.

It was a perfect meal.

Note: While Outdoor Gourmet has graciously supplied me with planks to grill with, this post is not sponsored by them.  My thoughts are my own and yes, my appetite is fairly healthy…especially when it comes to shellfish.